Bet On Zuko
by MoonlightSpirit
Summary: Zuko is offically part of the Gaang. Well, sorta. Aang and Toph are nice, but Sokka and Katara are a whole different story. Especially Katara. It doesn't seem as if she could ever forgive Zuko for what he did. Can Zuko change her mind on that?
1. A New Life

**As promised, here's another Zuko songfic. Or a songfic type thin. A part of the song will be before and after each chapter. The chapter will be based on those parts of the song. This is gonna be a few chapters long. Anyway, one with the story!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or the song _Bet On It_.**

_Everybody's always talkin' at me_

_  
Everybody's tryin' to get in my head_

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I wanna listen to my own heart talkin'_

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I need to count on myself instead _

Did you ever 

_  
Lose yourself to get what you want?_

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Did you ever_

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Get on a ride then wanna get off?_

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Did you ever_

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Push away the ones you should've held close?_

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Did you ever let go?_

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Did you ever not know?_

About a week passed since Zuko joined the Gaang and he could honestly say, it wasn't the best week of his like. The Avat-Aang, he was trying to get use to calling him by his name-anyway, Aang was nice to Zuko, despite the fact Zuko had been chasing him around the world in an attempt to capture him. Toph was also nice to Zuko, mostly because she had no reason to hate him. Yeah, he did burn her feet-accidentally-but she had already gotten her payback for it. Her revenge was…well, let's just say, a well aimed rock can cause a boy a lot pain.

Sokka was a different story. He was constantly provoking Zuko, as if he _wanted _him to snap. That water tribe boy sure knew how to get into Zuko's head. And Katara was no better than her brother. She constantly insulted Zuko or had some witty comment aimed at him. Zuko and Katara's fights had become daily. At least her brother knew when to stop annoying him. Katara just didn't know when to SHUT UP!

But, aside from all this, Zuko knew in his heart that he had to teach the avatar firebending. He just had to take what was thrown at him. By the way, he did know Katara had a reason to hate him. He betrayed her and joined Azula, resulting in the almost death of the Avatar. But Zuko knew the minute he joined Azula that he had done the wrong thing. He wanted to apologize to Katara. He wanted to go find her and apologize, but knew she would have been long gone from Ba Sing Se and would never forgive him for what he did.

Zuko always thought of the time he spent in the Crystal Catacomb with Katara. She was so nice to him. She was the first person to touch his scar. Zuko never even let Uncle touch his scar. Zuko remembered the look he and Katara shared as she left the Crystal Catacombs with Aang. Their was something in her eyes he couldn't identify, something like…longing? Zuko wished that he hadn't betrayed her. Maybe things would be different now if he did.

But now, Zuko was back on the right track. And he wasn't going back, especially after Katara's death threat. Zuko was finally able to turn his life around and join the good side. And he wouldn't go back to the side of evil. You can bet on it.

_I'm not gonna stop_

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That's who I am_

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I'll give it all I got_

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That is my plan_

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Will I find what I lost?_

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You know you can_

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Bet on it, bet on it, bet on it, bet on it (Bet on me)_

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I wanna make it right_

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That is the way_

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To turn my life around_

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Today is the day_

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Am I the type of guy who means what I say?_

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Bet on it, bet on it, bet on it, bet on it_

**Well, there's the first chapter. I hope you liked it! Please Review!**_  
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	2. Picking A Fight

**Thanks for the great reviews! Here's chapter 2!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or the song _Bet On It_.**

_How will I know if there's a path worth takin'?_

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Should I question every move I make?_

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With all I've lost, my heart is breakin'_

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I don't wanna make the same mistakes _

Did you ever 

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Doubt your dream will ever come true?_

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Did you ever_

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Blame the world but never blame you?_

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I will never_

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Try to live a lie again_

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I don't wanna win this game if I can't play it my way_

"Hey Zuko, dinner's ready," Aang said, peeping his head into Zuko's room. Zuko was lying on his bed looking out the window.

"I'll be there in a minute," he told the young avatar. Aang nodded and walked out of the room. To Zuko, the Western Air Temple was oddly peaceful. It was quiet-when he and Katara weren't arguing-and nice place for thinking. He wasn't eager to get to dinner. It would mean facing Katara and her attitude. He liked to call it Kataratude **(A/N: A word I made up ****J**but when ever he was around Katara, he had to watch his every move or be frozen to something. And he had already been frozen to something once, he wasn't eager for it to happen again.

Zuko realized he had lost her trust. Just another thing he had lost in his life. But with each thing he lost, it felt as if another part of his heart was being broken. He doubted she would trust him again. And he knew it was his fault. Long ago, Zuko would have blamed the rest of the world for what went wrong with him. But he recently realized that he was to blame for those things. He used to be living a lie, and he was _not _going back down that path again. Zuko sighed and stood up, walked out his room and headed toward the main entrance of the air temple. Aang, Sokka, Toph, Katara, Haru, The Duke and Teo were sitting around a fire, each of them holding a soup that Katara had made. There was a bowl waiting for Zuko next to Aang. Zuko took his seat and lifted his bowl. He was about to take a sip when an oh-too-familiar voice said, "About time you came hothead," Zuko lowered his bowl as his eyebrow twitched. WHY was this girl always picking a fight with him?

"You know," Zuko said, "I don't know why Toph calls you Sugar Queen, 'cause you're certainly not sweet."

"Uh oh," said Sokka, sensing trouble.

"Cover your food, she's gonna blow," Toph said. Katara snapped her narrowed ocean blue eyes onto Zuko's golden ones.

"Excuse me," she said, placing down her bowl harder than necessary.

"This is gonna be ugly," said Aang, scooting away from Zuko as to not be caught in thee cross fire of the latest argument.

"I said, for someone called Sugar Queen, you're not exactly sweet," Zuko repeated louder, beginning to lose his temper.

"Well at least I'm not some bipolar prince," Katara snapped.

"Witch," Zuko retorted

"Temperamental,"

"Jerk,"

"Annoying,"

"She devil,"

"Water peasant,"

"Spoiled prince,"

Zuko's soup began to boil in his hands as his hands heated up. He HATED when someone called him a spoiled prince. Because he was anything but. He had always came second to his sister, was a disgrace in his father's eyes, forced to fight his father at 13 and being permanently scared physically and emotionally, being _banished _from _his own homeland _at 13. Zuko was anything _but _a spoiled prince.

Zuko slammed his bowl on the floor, causing soup to slosh over the sides, and stood up, looking down at Katara with anger in his golden eyes.

"Don't you _ever _call me a spoiled Prince," he hissed at her. Katara smirked.

"Awww, did I hit a nerve," she asked sarcastically. Zuko's fist clenched.

"Uhhhh, guys," Aang began to say as everyone backed away from the fight, "Remember fighting never solves anything."

"No Aang," said Katara, standing with her hands on her hips, "I wanna see what _princess _here has to say," Zuko closed his eyes, trying to keep his temper under control.

"What's wrong princess," Katara taunted, "Kirat got your tounge?" **(A/N: A Kirat is a cross between a cat and a rat.)**

Zuko turned around and stormed away. He walked until he found a nice big deserted spot and screamed, fire erupting around him. Weeks of anger was finally released. It didn't take long for the fire to die down. And then, Zuko fainted.

_I'm not gonna stop_

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That's who I am (Who I am)_

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I'll give it all I got_

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That is my plan (That's my plan)_

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Will I find what I lost_

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You know you can (You know you can)_

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Bet on it, bet on it, bet on it, bet on it (Bet on me)_

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I wanna make it right_

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That is the way_

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To turn my life around_

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Today is the day_

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Am I the type of guy who means what I say?_

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Bet on it, bet on it, bet on it, bet on it_

**There's chapter 2. I love evil Katara! It was fun writing her with a different personality. I hope you liked it! Please Review!**


	3. The Reason

**Thanks for all the great reviews! Here's the final chapter! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or the song _Bet On It._**

_Oh, hold up_

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Give me room to think_

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Bring it on down_

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Gotta work on my bending_

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Gotta do my own thing_

_Oh, hold up_

_It's no good at all_

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To see yourself and not recognize your face_

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Out on my own_

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It's such a scary place_

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Ooh_

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The answers are all inside of me_

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All I gotta do_

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Is believe_

"Is he okay?"

"Sokka, stop poking him!"

"Well I'm trying to see if he'll waking up."

"He's been asleep for days, poking him won't help."

"Are you sure he's not dead?"

"SOKKA! SHUT UP!" three voices yelled. Zuko stirred.

"He's waking up!" someone said.

"Zuko," said a girl's voice softly. Zuko opened his eyes. It took a while for his vision to focus. He recognized he was lying in his bed in his room. Aang, Katara, Sokka and Toph were standing over his bed. Katara, surprisingly, had a look of worry on her face.

"Hey, you're finally awake," said Toph.

"We've been worried about you," said Aang. Zuko tried to sit up, but a pounding pain went through his head.

"Lay down," Katara said softly, placing a hand on Zuko's shoulder and pushing him back down.

"What happened?" Zuko asked weakly.

"When you didn't come back to dinner we came to find you," Sokka said, "Katara found you unconscious on the ground. We brought you back here. You've been asleep for days." Zuko brought a hand up to his head.

"I have a splitting headache," he said.

"That would be expected, you must have hit the ground pretty hard," Katara said, brushing her hand against the side of Zuko's head, "You have a small bump on your head."

"Small?!" said Sokka, "That thing was the huge before Katara healed it!" Everyone turned to glare at Sokka.

"I know," he said, putting his hands up in surrender, "I'm shutting up."

"Guys, can I talk to Zuko alone?" Katara asked. Aang and Toph nodded.

"I don't think it's a good idea-" Sokka began to say.

"SOKKA!" Aang and Toph said from the doorway.

"Coming," Sokka said, following his two friends out of the room. Katara precariously on the edge of Zuko's bed, twisting her hands nervously in her lap, avoiding Zuko's eyes.

"So what did you want to talk about?" Zuko asked, sitting up slowly, trying to ignore the pounding pain in his head.

"I'm sorry," Katara mumbled.

"What?" Zuko said.

"I said I'm sorry," Katara said a bit louder.

"I must have hit my head harder than I thought," Zuko said, rubbing his head, "Or else I would swear you just apologized."

"Zuko, I'm serious," she said, still avoiding his eyes.

"Katara I don't understand," Zuko said, "Why are you apologizing?"

"Aang told us that you probably fainted because you were holding in a lot of anger and let it out as fire, thus draining your energy and causing you to faint," Katara explained, "And I obviously haven't been very nice since you got here."

"Yeah," said Zuko, "I noticed that my first day here when you threatened my life."

"Yeah," said Katara, "I guess I should also explain my behavior lately."

"I thought it was just because you hated me," Zuko said.

"Not really," said Katara, "It's because…Zuko, before we met in the Crystal Catacombs, I was betrayed by someone that was very close to me. I never forgave him for what he did. When we met again I attacked him. He was murdered soon after we met again and every day I regret not trusting him when he said he'd changed." Katara wiped away a tear that fell down her cheek and looked up at Zuko as she continued, "When I met you in the Crystal Catacombs and you said you'd changed, I believed you. And when you betrayed me, I was so hurt. When Azula shot down Aang, I couldn't help but think that it wouldn't have happened if you hadn't betrayed me. I blamed it on you. So when you came back and said you'd changed again, I didn't want to believe you. I didn't want to be hurt again. I thought that if I were mean to you, I wouldn't care what happened to you. I thought I wouldn't care whether you live or die. But when I saw you unconscious on the ground, I couldn't help but feel guilty about all the mean things I'd said to you. So, I'm sorry Zuko."

"Does that mean no death threats?" Zuko asked, the corners of his mouth turning up into a smile. Katara smiled too.

"Yeah," she said, "And no more name calling,"

"And no more daily fights," said Zuko.

"No more daily fights," Katara agreed, her smile widening.

"You should smile more often," said Zuko, "It makes you look pretty. When you're not making fun of me."

"Your smile is nice too," Katara said to him.

"So, should we tell each other we'll stop trying clawing at each other's throat every day?" Zuko asked.

"Yeah," said Katara, standing up and smiling brightly. Zuko stood up too. The two of them made their way to the door. Until Katara held out an arm, stopping Zuko.

"What-" he began to say, but Katara shushed him and motioned to the door. Zuko stayed quiet, listened and heard voices on the other side.

"Toph, can you tell what's going on?" came Sokka's voice.

"They're just standing," said Toph.

"Guys, I don't think this is a good idea," said Aang.

"It's Aang, Sokka and Toph spying at the door," she said to Zuko. Zuko rolled his eyes. Katara reached for the doorknob and opened the door quickly, causing Aang, Sokka and Toph to topple on the floor. Katara and Zuko stared down at them, Katara with her hands on her hips and Zuko with his arms crossed against his chest.

"Uhhhh, hi guys," said Sokka.

"It was his idea," said Aang and Toph, pointing at Sokka. Katara and Zuko looked at each other, and then burst out laughing.

"You want me to help you make dinner?" Zuko asked Katara with a smile.

"Sure," said Katara smiling back. She and Zuko walked away from the three friends on the floor. Aang, Sokka and Toph looked at each other in confusion and said at the same time "Did we miss something?"

_I'm not gonna stop_

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Not gonna stop 'till I get my shot_

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That's who I am_

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That is my plan_

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Will I end up on top again?_

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Bet on it, bet on it, bet on it, bet on it, you can_

_Bet on it, bet on it, bet on it, bet on it (Bet On Me)_

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I wanna make it right_

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That is the way_

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To turn my life around_

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Today is the day_

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Am I the type of guy who means what I say?_

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Bet on it, bet on it, bet on it, bet on it _

You can bet on me 

**THE END! I hope you liked it. I'm kinda sad to see this story go, even though it's so short. I decided not to have a whole 'Zuko and Katara love each other' thing at the end just so I could keep the characters in character. Having Zuko and Katara love each other in the end just didn't seem to fit. So anyway, enough of my rambling, Please Review!**


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